Tom Scott

Thank you for looking at my LinkedIn! 

For the TL;DR folks:

I help companies build leadership teams to preserve and build their legacy. Want to meet or know more? https://linktr.ee/tomscottt

Longer version: 

I am a two-time founder. I sold my first company, Fearless, in 2023 after growing it from £0 to 10m in 4 years. In that time, some companies I've worked with (in many capacities) include BP, London Stock Exchange, Klarna, Skyscanner, Wise, Miro, Toyota, Google Ventures, Handshake, Fantasy, Jio, Attio, and Gravity Sketch. 

Now, I'm building Verified. We are an executive search company building the teams of tomorrow. 

Companies globally trust us to build world-class teams that have a lasting impact on their enterprises.

With our executive search and board advisory services, we build high-performance design and engineering teams for clients ranging from FTSE 100 companies to VC/PE portfolio companies, placing their senior teams.

I believe I've been put in this world to help others realise their purpose by finding great work and enabling companies to support them. 

My credentials:

- Advisory to global CEOs and VCs on building design teams.
- Public speaker on all things talent, design and building companies.
- Most followed design recruiter on social media
- Built my own design agency, so I understand design well.
- Interviewed the world’s best leaders on various topics.

Outside of work, I am a man of God, a devoted father and an Olympic weightlifter. Glory to God! 

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomscottt

Co-Founder & CCO

A list of REMOTE Design roles in Europe: 

1. Canonical - Visual Designer (EMEA remote)
2. GitHub - Senior Product Designer (Spain remote)
3. BJAK - Senior Motion Designer (UK remote)
4. ThriveCart - Product Designer (UK/EU remote)
5. SmartRecruiters - Senior Product Designer (France remote) 
6. HubSpot - Senior Product Designer (Ireland remote) 
7. Mozilla - Creative Lead (UK remote) 
8. Addepar - Senior Product Designer (UK remote) 
9. Consensys - Design Director (EMEA remote) 
10. Contentsquare - Staff Product Designer (UK/Italy/Germany/Spain remote)
11. Vivid - Senior Product Designer (EU remote) 
12 Kraken - Senior Product Designer (EMEA remote) 
13. Smartsheet - Senior Product Designer (Bulgaria remote) 
14. Hostaway - Senior Product Designer (EMEA remote) 
15. GitLab - Staff Product Designer (EMEA remote) 
16. Protex AI - Brand & Digital Designer (Hungary remote) 
17. LastPass - Product Designer (Hungary remote) 
18. Mediafly - Midweight Designer (UK remote) 
19. Metalab - Design Lead (Global remote) 
20. Prolific - Lead Product Designer (UK remote) 

Even though there is a lot of push to go back to 3-4 days in the office, there are still a ton of companies offering remote options which I know is vital for so many people. I hope this list helps! I'll continue to post remote roles. 

All links to jobs in the the comments. Happy Monday!

1x Exit. Building my 2nd company: Verified. Design and Exec Recruiting.

A real issue for design teams when hiring:

Some design teams are so far ahead, prototyping with newer AI tools and, in general, ways of working, that it’s difficult to find designers who have done this and meet every requirement. 

This is why we need to hire on potential, not just polished portfolios. 99.9% of the time, the perfect designer just does not exist. 

This is why hiring more interns and early-stage designers would be great, as they are often far ahead with AI understanding and the newer ways of working in design, as it’s all they’ve known.

I've been hiring designers for 10 years this year. 

What started as me needing a job has turned into a labour of love. 

I still love: 

- The buzz of taking on a new client brief.  
- Seeing someone you place get a 30k pay rise. 
- Help a company build a genuine world-class team. 
- Someone change their LinkedIn to the new company. 
- See someone you place becoming your hiring manager.

We're building a new design team in London from scratch for a client, and getting feedback that we've built an interesting team full of great design talent, and everyone is settling in well, is truly rewarding. Nothing beats that. 

Here's to another 10 years.

“We need more designers who wear hats" 

This is the best comment from a CEO recently.

In all seriousness, though, more companies than ever want to hire designers for deep, hard-earned product and interface design skills and are obsessed with their craft (not just visuals), sweat the details, and live and breathe making highly crafted products. No politics, just building.

Bonus points if they wear a hat and smoke a cigar when designing.

A list of live design leadership roles in EUROPE: 

1. PandaDoc - Design Director (EU remote)
2. Bolt - Head of Product Design (Tallinn) 
3. duvo.ai - Head of Design (Prague) 
4. Preply - Creative Brand Director (London/Barcelona) 
5. the LEGO Group - Global Creative Director, Masterbrand (Copenhagen) 
6. Sinch - Director, Product Design (Stockholm) 
7. iChoosr - Head of Product and Design (Amsterdam) 
8. Text - VP of Product Design (EU remote) 
9. AKQA - Product Design Director (London) 
10. Kraken - Product Design Director, Growth (EU remote) 
11. Zoopla - Head of Product Design (London) 
12. HSBC - Head of Product Design (London)
13. OpenTable - Director, Product Design (London) 
14. Nothing - Director of Software Product Design (London) 
15. Vinted - Area Director of Design (Berlin) 
16. The Trade Desk - Creative Director (London) 
17. Pattern® - Creative Director (London) 
18. SS&C Technologies - Product Director, UX & Design (London/Essex) 
19. King - Creative Director (Barcelona) 
20. Rapid7 - Director, Product Design (Belfast) 

All job links are in the comments. I hope this helps!

A live list of design INTERN jobs: 

1. Robinhood - Product Design Intern (NYC)
2. Cloudflare - Product Design Intern (Austin, TX)
3. Anduril Industries - Product Design Intern (Costa Mesa) 
4. Stripe - Product Design Intern (Toronto) 
5. Waymo - Digital Product Design Intern (Warsaw) 
6. Cresta - Design Intern (Toronto)
7. Agoda - Product Design Intern (Bangkok) 
8. Datadog - Product Design Intern (Madrid) 
9. GoFundMe - Product Design Intern (SF) 
10. GitHub - Product Design Intern (US remote) 
11. Microsoft - Product Design Intern (Dublin)
12. Diligent - Product Design Intern (Hungary) 
13. Notion - UX Research Intern (NYC) 
14. Tencent - Game User Research Intern (London) 
15. MongoDB - UX Research Intern (Dublin) 
16. Xometry - UX Research Intern (Waltham, Massachusetts) 
17. Picnic Technologies - Visual Design Intern (Amsterdam) 
18. Edenspiekermann - Digital Product Design Intern (Berlin) 
19. BYBORRE - Visual Design and Branding Intern (Amsterdam)
20. Revolut - Product Design Intern (Europe wide) 

We need to do what we can to help the next generation of designers, so the more intern programmes the better in my opinion. You can't beat learning from people on the job. 

I hope this helps!

Design hiring in 2025 had similar issues: 

- Many companies ran into the same problems. They needed “Super IC” unicorn designers, did not know what top designers actually earn, ran long, outdated interview processes, and were too slow and too vague when selling and closing.

- Many companies tried to hire without a clear view of what they actually wanted. 

- Hiring top-tier designers is not about volume. It’s about being targeted, intentional, knowing what you want and and being willing to pay for it.

Design hiring in 2026 looks like it will be busier than ever. 

I'm here for it.

The design hiring market has been wild. I’ve spoken about this from a candidate’s point of view. There’s a huge juxtaposition, and it’s not getting be

Open article: The playbook to hiring designers in 2026 by Tom Scott • 9 min read

I used to spend hours scrolling Dribbble back in the day. I found SO many world-class designers, a lot of them I still I work with today. 

Where is the design community these days?

I miss when Dribbble was good. Read.cv was the nearest thing before it got shut down. 

It seems like we have X where designers are posting cool things and Substack is growing. We need a place again for a great design community.

Hiring designers is constantly evolving, so it's important to share what I am observing to help people find great work. 

I thought I would put together a list of reasons I’ve seen candidates not pass recent interviews at a range of companies. 

TL;DR:

1. Not enough real product work
2. Weak craft
3. No product sense
4. Incoherent storytelling
5. Tied to old playbooks
6. Low ownership signal
7. Lack of technical depth
8. Not thinking like a product designer
9. Slow pace
10. Not enough experience in AI tools

If anyone has any additions to this, I would love to hear! Let's share and learn.

Open article: 10 reasons designers do not pass interview processes by verifiedinsider.substack.com

10 reasons designers do not pass interview processes

Most of the proposals for Hatch Conference have been from outside of Europe, mainly the US. 

Europe's start-up scene and the level of design quality is incredible at the moment, but we need to be better at talking about ourselves more. We need to share the work. 

Hatch is an incredible opportunity built for European Designers. 

The call ends February 15th. I know most submissions will come in the last 24 hours, but let's not wait. 

I've had a lot of messages about people wanting to submit proposals, do it. 

Help Damian Martone find the best facilitators and speakers in Europe, tagging them here so they apply.

10 observations on how to attract and hire great designers: 

(From working and interviewing world-class design teams) 

1. They seek to understand the market first
2. Spend time crafting hiring materials
3. Double down on top of the funnel
4. They don’t get on a call unless they are excited
5. Test for the right signals
6. Test for craft early in the process 
7. Focus on live work
8. High agency is a must
9. Everyone leads through the work
10. They double down on storytelling

Open article: How to attract and hire great designers in 2026 by verifiedinsider.substack.com

How to attract and hire great designers in 2026

Dale McRae

Weishaupt Design Group Inc.

At Weishaupt Design Group (WDG), I lead the digital marketing efforts for a portfolio of luxury brands, including MAN OF PARTS, 5oz., and Avenue Road, with a strong focus on user experience (UX) and UX research as strategic pillars. My role is centered on creating exceptional digital experiences that align with the sophistication and craftsmanship of our high-end offerings.

Digital Marketing Manager

Populis Digital Design

Populis provides innovative customer experience strategies and AI driven design solutions to organizations across sectors including government, healthcare, finance and retail. Our mission is to help clients communicate on a more human level through digital products that are innovative and evidence based.

Responsibilities:
Develop new business opportunities for Populis through strategic partnerships with traditional marketing agencies. Curate and deliver new business pitches relevant to current market opportunities.

Outcomes:
50% reduction in patient calls through a redesign of post-op instructions for a private healthcare clinic.
12% increase in client retention rates for a traditional marketing agency after leveraging the Populis approach to design.

Founder & Principle Designer

Ascendis

Ascendis Consulting, headquartered in Montreal, offers comprehensive consulting services tailored to the unique needs of businesses across various industries. Specializing in strategy, operations, and technology, Ascendis partners with clients to drive sustainable growth, streamline processes, and maximize efficiency.

Responsibilities:
Work with clients to understand business needs and develop corresponding approaches to address needs and challenges.
Lead and foster client relationships during the delivery of research, strategy and UX design artifacts.

Outcomes:
Implementation of strategic, lean research methodologies providing business impact within the first 4 weeks.

Lead, User Experience and Service Design

Neo Financial

Neo Financial offers Canadians a suite of digital banking products, services and access to loyalty programs through an extensive network of merchants and strategic partnerships with key Canadian brands.

Responsibilities:
Scaled and operationalized the Product Design and UX Research disciplines by creating a vision-based internal design strategy, internal growth KPIs and artifacts to communicate processes that supported product roadmaps.
Communicated the business impact that UX Research creates in order to show the value for the business and customers.

Outcomes:
Increased head-count for the UX Research discipline by 50%.
Developed a UX Research growth strategy within the first 30 days, achieved 50% of the objectives within 4 months.

Manager, UX Research

Bond Brand Loyalty

Bond is a Canadian owned and operated marketing agency and a leader in developing customer loyalty programs for clients in both the Canadian and U.S. markets.

Responsibilities:
Introduced User Experience internally as a new in-house discipline by establishing collaborative relationships with strategy and new business teams.
Developed client engagement strategies in order to highlight User Experience as core agency offering.

Outcomes:
Introduced and developed User Experience as a key market offering proving ROI within the first three months.
Developed an integrated User Experience operating model including design templates and design operations.

UX Design Director

Shopify

Shopify is a multinational e-commerce company that offers end-to-end business solutions to merchants. Systems include point-of-sale hardware and back-end administration software that facilitate growth for Shopify’s merchant network.

Responsibilities:
Led and conducted field research in order to observe and understand merchant operational models and processes.
Analyzed qualitative data to look for commonalities across multiple businesses in order to find opportunities for digital automation.
Collaborated consistently with product marketing and data science in order develop the UX research roadmap.

Outcomes:
Leveraged merchant objectives to develop a strategic vision and roadmap in order to inform investment planning.
Facilitated the first prioritization workshop for the Customers team.

UX Research

Canada Post / Postes Canada

Canada Post is a crown corporation serving as the primary postal operator on a national level, providing the majority of shipping and mailing services to Canadians.

Responsibilities:
Established the UX Research practice by communicating the business value of UX Research to executives and senior leadership.
Integrated the UX Research discipline into product delivery processes by (i) developing research operations, and (ii) mentoring junior Product Designers and UX Researchers.

Outcomes:
18 point increase over industry standard in SUS (System Usability Scale) for consumer facing site (industry standard is 68)
50% increase in generative research studies throughout 2018.

Jackman Reinvents

Jackman Reinvents is a management consultancy, with a focus on brand reinvention and digital activation.

Responsibilities:
Collaborated with strategists, designers and consultants to launch digital activations.
Moderated design research sessions with clients and in-house creative teams.
Initiated and led field research and usability studies.

Outcomes:
Provided clients with visibility into customer processes and working environments through strategic research.
Tested and revised complex enterprise systems through discovery and evaluative research sessions.
Provided design governance model frameworks to clients.

Senior Customer Experience Design, Digital

NYC Department of Technology and Innovation

The Department of Technology and Innovation (OTI) provides the delivery of information technology and infrastructure projects to enhance services for businesses and residents of New York, which includes public safety, human services and economic development.

Responsibilities:
Facilitated design research workshops for technology and infrastructure projects.
Developed strategic relationships with public service agencies in order communicate OTI's services.
Facilitated a monthly human-centred design workshop for New York's public service employees.

Outcomes:
Provided foundational research and design leadership for the Queensbridge Connected initiative (funded by NYCHA).
Facilitated the assessment and redesign of the OTI's service delivery which supported to the development of NYC Critical Application Portfolio.

Assistant Director, User Experience Design

VarageSale

VarageSale is a virtual garage sale app that lets users buy and sell items in their communities. It currently has users across the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK.

Responsibilities:
Designed essential areas of the mobile and desktop applications including on-boarding and monetization (subscriptions, C2C payments).
Developed component libraries.

Outcomes
Launched and scaled the first in-house UX Research discipline.
Facilitated collaborative working models between design, engineering and QA.

Product Designer

I’m a designer, leader, and problem solver with 14+ years of experience in UX, visual design, and research. From scaling UX teams to embracing generative AI, I’ve transformed challenges into opportunities, crafting solutions that connect technology with human needs.

My journey spans teaching government agencies how to connect with communities to shaping visually-driven e-commerce experiences. I thrive on reimagining what’s possible and helping teams deliver exceptional work. Let’s build the future of design together.

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The Battle

Tom Scott

Dale McRae

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taplio

The Battle

Tom Scott

Dale McRae

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Engagements

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Tom Scott's LinkedIn Performance

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